Born Again Chapter 8 Part 4

"Olly olly oxen-free, Joannnnyyyyyy!"

"Come on out, shrimp, and take your lumps!"

Ohhh, man, have I done it this time...

I just tickled Master Rai until he went ballistic, and now he's gonna give me ten times what I gave him, I know it!

And my only defense: his couch!

"You're only delaying the inevitable, little bro!"

"Yeah!" Oh no, oh no, oh no...

Please don't find me, please don't find me, please don't find me-

"EEK!" I clamp my hands over my mouth. Something just jabbed my tail!

...which was exposed out in the front where I crawled in! DAMN IT!!

I'm found, I'm dead, I'm so dead...

"Let me handle this, Pichu."

Huh? What does he mean by-

"MMPH!" Something's...tickling my tail?!

Holy crap, that feels weeeeird!

But...it feels like it is on my feet, only on my...tail!

And I can't hold it in much longer...maybe if I can...

"Hahaha, coochie coochie coo!"

NO NOT THAT!! "NOOO!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-AAAH!!" As I crack under tail-ticklish pressure, I feel my tail getting yanked, pulling me out into the light.

"Pin him down, big bro!"

"GWAH!!" I suddenly feel a big weight on my belly, almost knocking the wind out of me! I try to squirm away, but...I can't!

"Now we gotcha, Joany!" Little Pichu suddenly climbs up on my chest, his back to Rai's.

Oh, no...Rai's grabbing my tail around the base! I can't move it!

I can barely move anything down there!

And then...it starts.

"W-WAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!! I'M SOHOHOHAHAAHAHAHAHAREEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!" I plead in a desperate attempt for the sudden tickles on my tail and belly to stop! But they don't. "I SAID I'M SORRYYYYYEEEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

"We heard what you said, but I wanna keep going." I hear Master Rai say as he-

"OH MY GOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAD!!" He's really digging his fingers in there! I can't stop laughing at all!

And little Pichu? Where Steve's just got power, Pichu's speedy paws are getting me all over the place!

"Phbbbbtt!"

"AAAAAAH! NOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!" What WAS that?! Something was on my belly, I know it!

I gotta get out before my brain goes mushy!

I hold my breath, trying to keep in all the tickly laughter as much as I can, and jerk my body around to the best of my ability. I'm held down tight by my waist area, and the weight on my stomach doesn't help much...

Just gotta give one big push!

"EEK!" And Pichu falls off me after one jerk to the side!

But Rai's still tickling my-

"NOOOO! NO NO NOAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAAHAHA!!" Feet...

I can't take it! He's getting all the bad spots!

"Hahaha! Tickle tickle the little Pikachu!"

"SHUT UP!! HAHAHAHAAHHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Can't! Stop! Laughing! That taunt didn't help at all!

I'm getting tired of laughing...tired of having fun...

Wait...this IS kinda fun! I mean, he's not hurting me, just tickle-torturing me!

In that case, I should be able to...yes!

Holding in my laughter again to gather my thoughts, I notice something swaying in front of me: his tail!

His tail's ticklish too! Just like mine!

"Hey, let go of my tail!" I hear as he stops tickling me to look behind.

I keep the tail grasped firmly in my hands, holding it around the lightning bolt, and dig my fingers in and wiggle them as much as I can.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA! Stop tickling my tail!" Master Rai yells as he squirms around, which makes me squirm a bit seeing as he's still on me!

"I could say the same thing about mine!" I try tickling down the long black part, and he just keeps belting out laughter. I feel him wiggle around more when I go back up to the bolt, so I focus there.

Just keep tickling, up and down, up and down...and he's laughing it up, just as hard as me!

"I'll save you, big bro!" Pichu finally makes himself known (forgot where he was after I bumped him off) by jumping back on me, but I instinctively grab and hold him by his sides, squeezing him. "EEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!" And his giggles are so cute!

I find the strength to finally yank my body out from under Rai's body ("Hey!") and put Pichu down before I scoot away from the two...

"Whew...oh man..." I pant loudly, relieved that I can take a breather. So much just happened...

And according to the looks on the brothers' faces, I wore them out too!

"Heh...not too bad, Johnny." Master Rai comments. "Kinda like last time, huh?"

"Not entirely..." I can feel my cheeks getting red...der. This did kinda start because I just wanted to tickle Master Rai's feet...

And now they're even redder.

"I should get paralyzed more often if it makes you this fun!" Master Rai stands up, walks over to me and pulls me up.

"Ow...uh, I don't think you need to do that..." I stutter out as I rub my sore arm.

"Then maybe I'll just stick my big black paws in your face next time."

...I think what I'm experiencing right now is a flushed face...he KNEW! He KNEW I was a freak for those huge feet!

...

And he's smiling?

"Dude, what's with the face? You know, you can tickle me anytime you want to. I don't judge you on that; hell, tickling's kinda common in our household."

"Yeah." Pichu shuffles up to us. "Big Bro said mommy and daddy did it all the time!"

Huh...guess it was one of those instinct behaviors or whatever they're called. At least it's not out of place or anything...

"So you can do whatever you want with us. Just remember that what goes around comes around." He grins his big, evil grin again. Ulp...

Well...I guess it can work. I mean, I won't be judged (Heck, now I'm EXPECTED to do it) and maybe Barry would like that I'm working on my fear.

Hey, speaking of Barry..."Hey, Steve, what time is it?"

"Uh, almost 2." He points to a clock hanging in the corner of the room. It reads 1:45.

"And when did I get here?"

"Probably around 10. Why?"

"Wow...it's only been that long?"

"Yeah, I know, you must be hungry. Pichu, what's for lunch?"

"Pasta!"

Mmm...pasta...

----------------------------------------------

After watching Master Rai lift some weights (I made sure I sat so his feet weren't in view, lest I get tempted and get him hurt), Pichu finally came out of the kitchen saying "Soup's on!"

"Pichu, I thought you said we were having pasta." I tease him as I get up.

"I knows. But 'soup's on' is funner to say!" He grins innocently and hops back to the kitchen.

Mmmm... I can smell the sauce already...

I rusn into the kitchen myself while Steve sets his bench weights back up, and...

Um...I'm pretty sure spaghetti sauce is red...not purple.

"Uh, Pichu? What'd you put in the sauce?"

"Oh, a bit of Bluk Berry mixed with Tamato Berry paste. I do it all the time."

"Well, it smells great, Pichu." Master Rai pushes me aside and sits at a chair. After recovering from that push, I go over to another chair and sit while Pichu hops on the table and serves us.

I can't help but wince as...eww...Pichu puts purple sauce on the spaghetti before he spoons it on my plate.

It smells all right, but...is it a trick?

I poke my fork into the sauce, half expecting it to turn into a monster or something. After getting some sauce on my fork, I place it on my tongue and...

...um...okay, it's not BAD, but..."Kinda...dry-tasting?" I smack my lips together. Why was the first kind of taste to hit my mouth "dry"?

"That's what I wanted!" He grins like nothing was wrong.

...whatever. I'm hungry. I'll eat it.

Rai's already starting to wolf it down. Well, I guess not totally wolfing it. He's not being an animal.

"Heh..." Hey, that's kinda funny. We ARE animals! But we're...civilized. They have towns, cities, money! Just like humans!

Mmm...and spaghetti too.

Yum...

"Slow down, Joany. You'll get indetestion again!"

I sigh and chew my food a bit before gulping and saying "Yes Pichu..."

After a few more bites, I was full. There weren't any seconds either, unless you count the pot of sauce...

"That was great. Thanks, little bro." Rai burps and chuckles.

"Welcome, Big Bro!" Pichu hops up and down in his chair. I just sip my milk (My god, I love this stuff!) and wash down the Tamato-Bluk combo.

I want to ask Master Rai something that just came to mind... "Hey...Steve?"

"Yeah, what's up, John?"

"I wanna ask you something. About today."

"What about it?"

"Well...we were training today."

"Yeah?"

"And we were kinda having fun hanging out together."

"Yeah?"

"And you know I'm not that experienced..."

"If you're asking for more TMs-"

"No, no, I don't need any more TMs. Thanks, but I'm trying to say...can I sleep over for a few days? Maybe...help train me?"

"But I got classes tomorrow."

"After training. I won't bother you. I won't even make noise."

"Hmmm..." Rai puts his paw to his chin. "What about that Charmander friend of yours? Don't you two live together? That's where I sent the letter last time."

"Uh, that actually gives me an idea. Can I write them a letter to let them know I'm staying here for a day or two?"

"Well, don't you have anything you want to get from there?"

"Not really, no...nothing really came with me from 2007 to today."

"Okay, I get ya." He nods. "You can stay."

"Thanks, Master Rai." I say his stage name for respect. "I'll do my best. You won't regret it."

"Yay, we're having a sleepover!" Pichu throws his arms up with joy!

---------------------

"To my friends Barry Lechensko, Alexander, and Andrea," I start typing on Steve's typewriter...

Wait...Tarbaro pronounced it "Alec Sander", didn't he?

"To my friends Barry Lechensko, Alec Sander, and Andrea,

Sorry I'm not home right now. I'm sending you this letter to let you know I'm going to stay over at Master Rai's house. I want to get more control over Electric attacks, and I've already learned how to use Zap Cannon, an awesome move that can paralyze immediately when it hits. I have faith in Master Rai that he'll help me with my Mimic moves too, even his Electric Hellfire move.
Maybe you guys should train a bit too. Barry, you seem good with Fire moves, but maybe you can learn other things to help you around the house. Andrea, your Shadow Ball's cool, but see if you can find a TM or something. Alec," ...Uh, what do I know about him... "Alec, keep doing what you do.

Your friend,

Johnny"

I pull the paper out of the typewriter and fold it up so it looks like it fits in one of Master Rai's yellow envelopes. Still can't believe these keys are small enough for Pikachu fingers. Now he doesn't have an excuse why he can't type well.

Hmm...Would Barry understand this...?

I pick up a nearby pencil (also small enough for a 'Chu) and write "Barry PS" on the back after unfolding it again. Then, I try drawing one of Rai's paws. Big, long, and I try to include the pad.

...It didn't look too bad, I guess.

Refolded, sealed in an envelope...and it'll be delivered tomorrow.

Today, I think Master Rai has more training for me.